USA Drawn into Group E with Italy, Czech Republic and Ghana for 2006 World Cup

NewsDec 9, 2005

U.S. Will Open World Cup Against Czech Republic on June 12 in GelsenkirchenAlso Face Italy on June 17 in Kaiserslautern and Ghana on June 22 in Nuremberg

LEIPZIG, Germany (December 9, 2005) – The U.S. Men’s National Team has been drawn into Group E with Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. The Final Draw took place today at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. local) at the Congress Center Leipzig in Leipzig, Germany.

Player Quotes | Arena's Reaction (listen) | World Cup Schedulel (pdf) | MNT HomeThe U.S. will open Group E play against Czech Republic on June 12 in Gelsenkirchen, and will follow that game with matches against three-time World Cup Champions Italy (1934, ’38, ‘82) on June 17 in Kaiserslautern and against Ghana on June 22 in Nuremberg.

“I'm pleased now that we know our opponents and now we can prepare,” said U.S. Manager Bruce Arena. “Obviously, it's a group with some very good teams including the second best team in the world (Czech Republic). Italy, in everyone's opinion, is a top 10 team in the world, and Ghana is an excellent newcomer to the World Cup. We have our hands full, but we really look forward to the competition.”

The U.S. was drawn into one of the toughest groups of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Group E is the only group with three teams in the top 12 in the World FIFA Rankings, with the Czech Republic (ranked second), the U.S. (eighth), Italy (12) and Ghana (50). The U.S. has never beaten any of the three teams it will face in group play (having never faced Ghana), holding a combined lifetime record of 0-4-2.

This will be the second time the U.S. will face the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia) and Italy in group play of a World Cup as the three teams, along with Austria, were drawn into Group A of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The match order in the group is the same as well, with the U.S. facing the Czech Republic first and Italy second. The U.S. qualified for the 1990 World Cup after a 40-year absence and lost all three matches, but has since made five straight World Cup appearances.

"I went to the tournament in Italy in 1990,” said Arena. “It will be interesting to see how far we've progressed in 16 years."

In their opening match, the U.S. will have to contend with one of the best teams in the world in the Czech Republic, which played their first game as a new nation in 1998. The only meeting between the two countries came in the 1990 World Cup, a 5-1 victory for Czechoslovakia on June 10 in Florence, Italy. Despite their high ranking, the Czech Republic had to win a playoff against Norway (2-0) to advance to the World Cup after coming in second in their UEFA qualifying group behind the Netherlands.

This will be the third time the U.S. will face Italy in the World Cup as the two countries met in 1934 and 1990. Both matches were played in Rome, Italy, with the U.S. falling 7-1 in 1934 and 1-0 in 1990. In Germany, the matchup will take place in Kaiserslautern which, despite being by far the smallest of the 12 German venues, holds the largest U.S. military base outside the United States, housing some 40,000 American troops. In their history, the U.S. holds a 0-3-2 record against the Italians, who advanced to the 2006 World Cup by winning Group 5 in UEFA qualifying.

The USA’s final group match against Ghana will be their first meeting against the African nation. Ghana qualified for their first-ever World Cup when they finished atop Group 2 in CAF, but have been considered a team on the rise, twice finishing second at the FIFA World Youth Championships (1993 & 2001), and winning two U-17 World Youth Championships (1991 & 1995).

Should the U.S. advance to the second round, the U.S. would meet a team from Group F (Brazil, Croatia, Australia and Japan) in either Kaiserslautern (June 26) or Dortmund (June 27).

The rest of the USA’s quarterfinal bracket includes Group G (France, Switzerland, Korea Republic and Togo) and Group H (Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia).

The remaining World Cup groupings are as follows: Group A (Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador), Group B (England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden), Group C (Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro and Netherlands) and Group D (Mexico, Iran, Angola and Portugal). Group A features the tournament’s opening game (Germany vs. Costa Rica on June 9 in Munich).

The U.S. will use the city of Hamburg as their home base throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which is the northern most venue in Germany, traveling to its three match venues.

For a complete recap of today’s Final Draw, which includes more interesting facts on some of the other group pairings, media and fans can log on to ussoccer.com’s DrawTracker. The DrawTracker includes up-to-date and detailed information on each of the 32 tournament finalists, and a complete 2006 World Cup schedule.

Group A

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

1

June 9

GER vs. CRC

Munich

12 p.m.

2

June 9

POL vs. ECU

Gelsenkirchen

5 p.m.

17

June 14

GER vs. POL

Dortmund

5 p.m.

18

June 15

ECU vs. CRC

Hamburg

9 a.m.

33

June 20

ECU vs. GER

Berlin

10 a.m.

34

June 20

CRC vs. POL

Hanover

10 a.m.

Group B

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

3

June 10

ENG vs. PAR

Frankfurt

9 a.m.

4

June 10

TRI vs. SWE

Dortmund

12 p.m.

19

June 15

ENG vs. TRI

Nuremberg

12 p.m.

20

June 15

SWE vs. PAR

Berlin

3 p.m.

35

June 20

SWE vs. ENG

Cologne

3 p.m.

36

June 20

PAR vs. TRI

Kaiserslautern

3 p.m.

Group C

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

5

June 10

ARG vs. CIV

Hamburg

3 p.m.

6

June 11

SCG vs. NED

Leipzig

9 a.m.

21

June 16

ARG vs. SCG

Gelsenkirchen

9 a.m.

22

June 16

NED vs. CIV

Stuttgart

12 p.m.

37

June 21

NED vs. ARG

Frankfurt

3 p.m.

38

June 21

CIV vs. SCG

Munich

3 p.m.

Group D

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

7

June 11

MEX vs. IRN

Nuremberg

12 p.m.

8

June 11

ANG vs. POR

Cologne

3 p.m.

23

June 16

MEX vs. ANG

Hanover

3 p.m.

24

June 17

POR vs. IRN

Frankfurt

9 a.m.

39

June 21

POR vs. MEX

Gelsenkirchen

10 a.m.

40

June 21

IRN vs. ANG

Leipzig

10 a.m.

Group E

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

9

June 12

ITA vs. GHA

Hanover

3 p.m.

10

June 12

USA vs. CZE

Gelsenkirchen

12 p.m.

25

June 17

ITA vs.USA

Kaiserslautern

3 p.m.

26

June 17

CZE vs. GHA

Cologne

12 p.m.

41

June 22

CZE vs. ITA

Hamburg

10 a.m.

42

June 22

GHA vs. USA

Nuremberg

10 a.m.

Group F

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

11

June 13

BRA vs. CRO

Berlin

3 p.m.

12

June 12

AUS vs. JPN

Kaiserslautern

9 a.m.

27

June 18

BRA vs. AUS

Munich

12 p.m.

28

June 18

JPN vs. CRO

Nuremberg

9 a.m.

43

June 22

JPN vs. BRA

Dortmund

3 p.m.

44

June 22

CRO vs. AUS

Stuttgart

3 p.m.

Group G

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

13

June 13

FRA vs. SUI

Stuttgart

12 p.m.

14

June 13

PRK vs. TOG

Frankfurt

9 a.m.

29

June 18

FRA vs. PRK

Leipzig

3 p.m.

30

June 19

TOG vs. SUI

Dortmund

9 a.m.

45

June 23

TOG vs. FRA

Cologne

3 p.m.

46

June 23

SUI vs. PRK

Hanover

3 p.m.

Group H

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

15

June 14

ESP vs. UKR

Leipzig

9 a.m.

16

June 14

TUN vs. KSA

Munich

12 p.m.

31

June 19

ESP vs. TUN

Stuttgart

3 p.m.

32

June 19

KSA vs. UKR

Hamburg

12 p.m.

47

June 23

KSA vs. ESP

Kaiserslautern

10 a.m.

48

June 23

UKR vs. TUN

Berlin

10 a.m.

Round of 16

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

49

June 24

1st A vs. 2nd B

Munich

11 a.m.

50

June 24

1st C vs. 2nd D

Leipzig

3 p.m.

51

June 25

1st B vs. 2nd A

Stuttgart

11 a.m.

52

June 25

1st D vs. 2nd C

Nuremberg

3 p.m.

53

June 26

1st E vs. 2nd F

Kaiserslautern

11 a.m.

54

June 26

1st G vs. 2nd H

Cologne

3 p.m.

55

June 27

1st F vs. 2nd E

Dortmund

11 a.m.

56

June 27

1st H vs. 2nd G

Hanover

3 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

57

June 30

Winner 49 vs. Winner 50

Berlin

11 a.m.

58

June 30

Winner 53 vs. Winner 54

Hamburg

3 p.m.

59

July 1

Winner 51 vs. Winner 52

Gelsenkirchen

11 a.m.

60

July 1

Winner 55 vs. Winner 56

Frankfurt

3 p.m.

Semifinals

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

61

July 4

Winner 57 vs. Winner 58

Dortmund

3 p.m.

62

July 5

Winner 59 vs. Winner 60

Munich

3 p.m.

Third Place

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

63

July 8

Loser 61 vs. Loser 62

Stuttgart

3 p.m.

Final

Match

Date

Teams

Venue

Kickoff (ET)

64

July 9

Winner 61 vs. Winner 62

Berlin

2 p.m.

ussoccer.com is the official site of U.S. Soccer, the governing body of soccer in the United States.